Bell Or Rogers Going To Pay $2.25B For MLSE?

A Canadian-based sports banker familiar with the discussions on the sale of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund says it is highly likely that either Bell Canada Enterprises or Rogers Communications will eventually pay $2.25 billion for MLS&E. This person spoke on the condition of because of anonymity because they are not authorized to disclose information on the talks.

That $2.25B has to be for MLSE in it's entirity.
OTPP was only asking $1.7 for their portion.

If that is the case, then that means that Tannenbaum is open to selling his portion.
Or that is the assumption being made here it seems.

ADD Although, that $1.6-1.7 was for 66%. They have since upped their share to 80%. So perhaps not actually.

ADD I still find it amazing how people can say Toronto is a 'Small Market' and yet we are #10 Most Valuable Franchise in the League, behind only Power Houses like New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Pheonix, Miami, San Antonio and Houston. That is some GOOD company.

Last edited by Joey; Sat May 14th, 2011 at 11:40 AM.

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

I pay $60 a month for Internet and Satellite from Bell and I've never once had a issue with it.
I get NBATV, TSN2, SN1, NFL Network, National Geographic, Discovery, ALL HD, plus Internet for $60-ish a month.

I remember hearing that Bell was garbage, but I think it's all Rogers propoganda. I've had a wonderful experience with Bell. haha

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

I pay $60 a month for Internet and Satellite from Bell and I've never once had a issue with it.
I get NBATV, TSN2, SN1, NFL Network, National Geographic, Discovery, ALL HD, plus Internet for $60-ish a month.

I remember hearing that Bell was garbage, but I think it's all Rogers propoganda. I've had a wonderful experience with Bell. haha

i doubt they have any passion for sports. but,they do own ctv which subdivision is tsn.

Rogers does?

LBF wrote:

i'd rather have rogers who already has experience in the field of sports team ownership.

It doesn't matter. The Teachers have experience and how's that working out? Nobody at Bell is going to be making trades, signing FA or drafting players. That will be the GM's job. It doesn't matter who owns it as long as they're willing to step aside and open their wallet.

LBF wrote:

but, what i pray for is for an individual owner to jump in and pull the rug out from underneath bell and rogers.

Me too, if it's the right owner but there doesn't seem to be a realistic taker. I can't think of a single franchise who has had success while owned by a corporation.

Me too, if it's the right owner but there doesn't seem to be a realistic taker. I can't think of a single franchise who has had success while owned by a corporation.

I've often pondered this as well. And was feeling a little 'journalistic', if you will. haha

If you go here, you can see that the Raptors situation is fairly unique in the History of the NBA.

Besides Comcast, who owns and Operates both the Flyers and the 76ers, (the Atlanta Spirit seem to be more of a partnership than a corporation) there is ZERO history of Corporations owning Teams in the NBA. Period.

With Bell/Rogers moving in to possibly make the Purchase, we could be looking at something very similar to what Philidalphia is dealing with now. They won the Championship in the 1982-83 season, but that was under the owndership of Ed Snider's "Spectator", which seems to be a company who's sole purpose was Owning and Operating the Flyers/76ers. Not the same thing. He sold 'Spectator' to Comcast in '96, and haven't had much success since.

So I agree, that it seems the best way to success is through a Majority, Individual owner, but at the same time, alot of teams have had very little success under that Ownership system as well (Donald Sterling anyone?).

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

We know Jim Balsillie has the personal wealth to play with the big boys and that he would probably love to own the Leafs. What about it Jim? Sell your stake in RIM and focus on making MLSE winning franchises.

We know Jim Balsillie has the personal wealth to play with the big boys and that he would probably love to own the Leafs. What about it Jim? Sell your stake in RIM and focus on making MLSE winning franchises.

This is interesting. So JUST be an owner ..?.. Most owners have their other money making schemes, for if the team isn't profitable; but he wouldn't be losing money at MLSE either. Both teams are Top 10 Revenues every year. I wonder if he's considering it.

I don't think the NHL would let him buy the Leafs anyway. They really don't like him.

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

This is interesting. So JUST be an owner ..?.. Most owners have their other money making schemes, for if the team isn't profitable; but he wouldn't be losing money at MLSE either. Both teams are Top 10 Revenues every year. I wonder if he's considering it.

I don't think the NHL would let him buy the Leafs anyway. They really don't like him.

Jim does not have the money that Rogers or Bell has, so lets not even pretend that he can afford to buy it. Jim wants an NHL team, and wants to bring a defunct one because he can get it for a cheap price or something within his range. He does NOT have the money to buy MLSE.

Jim does not have the money that Rogers or Bell has, so lets not even pretend that he can afford to buy it. Jim wants an NHL team, and wants to bring a defunct one because he can get it for a cheap price or something within his range. He does NOT have the money to buy MLSE.

I pay $60 a month for Internet and Satellite from Bell and I've never once had a issue with it.
I get NBATV, TSN2, SN1, NFL Network, National Geographic, Discovery, ALL HD, plus Internet for $60-ish a month.

I remember hearing that Bell was garbage, but I think it's all Rogers propoganda. I've had a wonderful experience with Bell. haha

Bell takes all of the uncompressed 1080i 19 megabit HD content and compresses it into 720p at 8 mbps. Rogers passes the same content through uncompressed. Obviously things will get better when Bell switches over to MPEG4, but it's still a huge loss in quality compared to competitors.

Bell takes all of the uncompressed 1080i 19 megabit HD content and compresses it into 720p at 8 mbps. Rogers passes the same content through uncompressed. Obviously things will get better when Bell switches over to MPEG4, but it's still a huge loss in quality compared to competitors.